Tobacco Documents Online

PROGRANSUIWIMARY In Support of Firefighters andFire Safety The Tobacco Institute August 19&'-"

In creating and~ sponsoring this program, it would be the tobacco industry's intent to establish strong, positive and publicly recognized relations with firefighters and others concerned about the accidental fire problem. Those relations would be fostered first at the national level with prominent firefighting organizations, foundations and tions. Then, in close coordination with Institute field staff and lobbyists, relationships would be built with local firefighters. 't"~Cis ~ren- wc.f- With those relationships in place and expanding, we would then be capable of addressing two broader public service objectives: I. To cause a decrease in the U.S. accidental fire rate by increasing public awareness of basic fire prevention techniques. II. To support firefighters and~ firefighting or- ganizations by encouraging greater public involvement in fire pre- vention 0 N W . _ .~ . tJ ~ - ~

Wti d"n `t ' 1-"--1 the development of more effective fire- fighting tools and methods; and more attention~ to the safety of firefighters. voluntary.public support CAPSULE SUMMARIES: PROGRAM ELEMENTS The following program elements have been, examined~ by staff, our consultants and legal advisers and have been found to be feasible and worthy of industry•support. ' Those elements preceded by an asterisk (*) involve materials which will be presented to the Com- munications Committee August 26. Grants ~ o Grant to promote research into making furniture more fire resistant. n A grant has been made to the United Furniture Action Council (UFAC) to further its research into reducing and ° eliminating the flammability of fabrics and materials used in furniture production. o Study of the cause of accidental fires ini the Uni.ted State versus other countries 2

The study wil]i discuss actions and attitudes of Europeans that if taken broadly by Americans could significantly reduce the incidence of fire in this country. ~~ y o Grants to the Fodndation for Fire Safet The "Firehawks" program. This effort is similar to the Big Brother program except that it focuses on young firesetters. It has been developed by the San Francisco Fire Department and will be further en- hanced through this grant. Improved safety for firefighters. These monies are expected to be used by the Foundation to develop improved breathing apparatus for firefighters. Existing technology limits firefighters to 20 minutes of assisted breathing which is insufficient in many instances. Pilot testing of secondary school fire safety educa- tion materials,. The Foundation has developed mate- rials which are being tested in New York State. These monies would help that effort.

o Grants to cities in,need of help in fire safety education Many of the larger U.S. cities have active, creative but underfinanced fire safety education programs. Within a limited budget, the Institute and its consultants would meet with key firefighting, officials to determine needs and provide both financial and creative help. Discus- sions have already been conducted informally with offi- cials in New York and Chicago. Other cities for consid- eration include Boston,. Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston ~ d S ttl 1 S an ea e . ,., S ~ /M 3V, . In meeting with these individuals, we would, encourage their use of existing,.effective educational tools avail- able through such organizations as the National Fire Pro- tection Association, the Hartford Insurance Company (see below) and the Foundation for Fire Safety. II . Fire Safety Education o Fire Safety "coloring" calendar 4L A 1983 calendar featuring basic, seasonal fire safety information for families.

The calendar would be rendered in a coloring book format, with illustrations depicting f riendly animals engaging in proper fire safety behavior. The calendar would be dis- tributed by local fire departments to the young school children who regularly visit. Each calendar would be in an envelope demonstrating the joint sponsorship of the effort (TI-fire department) and would bear a message to teachers and~parents. Each month in 1983, youngsters would then be encouraged by parents and teachers to color the fire safety message and in that way become familiar with it. o Junior Fire Marshal Program Originally, we planned to propose a: program to encourage youngsters to monitor the correct placement and mainte- nance of home smoke detectors. Smoke detectors have made a significant difference in home accidental fire rates and especially in the area of fires caused by careless smoking. In developing this program we wanted to assure the Hart- ford Insurance Company that we would not be competing with a similar program under their auspices. In conver- c 5

sations with Hartford, we were told they would welcome our efforts and would consider a possible cooperative venture. Therefore, we are not presenting materials to the Commit- tee.at this time, pending further discussions with our ( consultants on this project. fW o Smoke Detector Reminders e-, -1 P.;J~4 ((~ In recent years a large number of homeowners have pur- chased and installed smoke detectors. This fact alone appears to be responsible for the large reductionin cer- tain kinds of typically smokey fires, i.e. those caused by cigarettes. Our consultants stress that the American public must be continually reminded to maintain their smoke detectors. Therefore, we have developed a, logo, to be used with many of our other program materials, much the same as the bot- tling industry has devloped a logo reminding consumers not to litter. III. Encouraging voluntary, public support of local fire depart~., ments N W ~ N rA 6

( Eighty percent of this nation's fire departments depend wholly or in part on volunteer manpower and contributions. At the heart of these departments are active, well-respected com- munity leaders. It would be our intent to help those leaders with an assort- ment of materials that would be distributed locally by Insti- tute field staff. Therefore, the kit would serve as a posi- tive, inexpensive means of establishing relations with local firefighters nationally. The kit would contain: o a series of public service advertisements to augment existing fundraising efforts. These ads would not bear the Tobacco Institute name but could be personalized by each department. o a,series of public service advertisements to augment vol- unteer recruiting efforts. As with all of the other parts of this kit, some departments might have no need for help here. However, our consultants stress that there are departments (especially those which have suf- fered reductions in public funding) which, wouldbenefit O here. Again, the Institute's name would not appear pub- ~ Gv licly. `~ N 7

o a series of public service advertisements and~ radio scripts to convey fire safety messages. o a manual to help local officials use the kit. .(Institute help in actually implementing the kit's components is not anticipated although, at the discretion of the field staff, further joint efforts could be undertaken.) 8